


Eight Legged Freaks

by ToTheMax



Series: Rowan's October Challenge [2]
Category: Set It Off (Band)
Genre: Gen, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-03
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-07-24 19:37:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16181786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToTheMax/pseuds/ToTheMax
Summary: Zach''s greatest fear is spiders.





	Eight Legged Freaks

**Author's Note:**

> So this is kind of a continuation to Surprise bc in had this idea and rolled with it. Thanks for reading love u

He wanted to leave from the start, but this really clinched it for him. Here he was, regretting every life decision he has ever made, staring a tarantula in the eyes. His whole body shook.

“Calm, now,” the voice from behind him said, “She senses fear. As long as you’re gentle, she is.”

“What do you want?” Zach weakly choked out, sitting up as much as his restraints allowed him to. The spider jumped, falling down to his belly before settling down and starting to crawl again.

“What I want? You really want me to answer that for you? It might scare you more, and my friend here might just bury those fangs of hers into your neck.”

Zach tried to hold as still as he could as the spider crawled from his chest to his neck, around his nape, and up into his hair. He tried breathing slowly, but he was terrified. He was in a dimly-lit room that he didn’t know, strapped to a bed and letting a  _ fucking tarantula  _ crawl all over him. The voice behind him was recognizable, even for just a moment.

“Zach, you know why I have you here?” the voice asked, sweet and innocent as a gravelly rasp could be. Zach fearfully shook his head. “Good. Because there is no reason. I just have you here for fun.”

“You and I have very different definitions of fun,” Zach managed to choke out. He didn’t know how this stranger knew his greatest fear. It was a common fear, but to guess correctly and then use it against him like this? Odd.

The person laughed. It sounded like a wolf, if wolves could laugh. Deep and threatening, and not at all humorous. “Oh, Zach. You always were a fun one. You have two choices here, buddy.” The person laid a hand on his shoulder, rough and calloused.

“Is one of them leaving?” Zach asked. He felt the spider leave his hair, kicking its legs out to try to stay on. “Because I’ll take that one.”

“No, man. You’re gonna die here whether you want to or not. You just have two ways of going about it.”

“Can I just-”

“Nope.” They patted his shoulder, then held the writhing tarantula in front of his face. “This was just to warm you up. You have a choice to run around the house and let me catch up, or you can just accept death right here where you sit.” They took the tarantula away from his vision, and the he heard the clicking of a tupperware box. They must have seen him relax, because they piped up, “Oh, don’t you get relaxed just yet, Zach. What I have waiting for you is  _ so _ much worse.” He heard a giggle, one that sounded… familiar. 

Zach yanked on his restraints, but they were metal. He’d need to have ten times his strength to get out of this. He needed whoever this was to let him out, then he could fight back. “Fine,” he whispered. “How about you chase me around?”

His captor laughed. That definitely sounded familiar, but where has he heard it? “They always choose that one! Alright, okay. But I’m warning you, I’m much stronger than I look.”  _ How did he know I wanted to fight back? _

Zach felt the cool metal slip away from his wrists, ankles, and stomach. He was shoved off the table rather roughly, and whirled around to get some glimpse of who his assailant was. All he saw of the person was a built figure with a hood over their head. “Who are you?” He asked sternly, fists clenched. He was ready to charge.

“I go by a lot of names,” they replied. They reached behind them and unsheathed a machete, swinging it lowly in front of him. “Mankind was a good one. But, Zach, come on. You know me!”   
“Can’t say I do,” he shot back, stepping forward. “What’s your real name?”

They just laughed, throwing their head back. Zach caught a glimpse of wavy blonde locks growing a little past their jawline. “You really wanna see?”

“Wait a sec-”

“Here I come, up close for the cameras!” The figure charged, machete over his head with a cackle reserved for those that have truly and finally lost it. Zach narrowly evaded, the blade coming close to his ankle. Then, he fell back and threw a well-aimed punch to their jaw, knocking them back and throwing the hood off their head.

Then, they quickly righted themself and stared Zach in the eyes, their irises a deep purple.

Zach’s jaw dropped. “Maxx?”

They shook their head. “No, but good guess. After he stabbed the shit out of my last vessel, I thought he’d be a good pick. I’m not Maxx.” he swung the machete onto his shoulder to emphasize his statement, a smirk plated on his face.

Zach stepped back, lickng his dry lips and trying to say  _ something _ . Nothing came out except fragments of words.

“Aw, left you speechless, didn’t I?” The monster stepped forward, grinning ider when he didn’t move a bit. “What are you so still for? I haven’t let you see the funnel webs yet.”

Finally, Zach broke out of his stature and raised his hands in surrender. “Hey, c’mon, Maxx. We can-”

“Call me Maxx again and I’ll speed this up.” He poked his hands away from his face, his stern look shutting him up. “Thank you. Now. c’mere.” He grabbed his hand and lead Zach over to a table of tupperware. “I wanna show you this.”

Zach stood ramrod straight as… whoever this was possessing Maxx took hold of one of the containers. “Each little bowl here has ten funnel web spiders. They don’t look very happy now, do they?”o

Zach shook his head. They certainly didn’t, with the way they were crawling over each other and writhing in the small space.

“Did you know a funnel web spider bite can kill you in fifteen minutes?”

Suddenly, he stepped back. The very fact that he was in a room with a lot of spiders was enough to fear getting bit, and the tarantula was enough of a scare. He wasn’t going to let a spider bite him, much less get near him in any way.

“So, I was wondering- Hey, get back here.” He reached forward and grabbed his shirt to pull him back. “I was wondering. If one bite can kill you in fifteen minutes, what can fifteen bites do? Kill you in one minute?”

“Let’s not find out,” Zach snapped, backing away again and holding his arms to his chest. “C’mon, man, knock it off.”

“Knock what off? I’m just speculating out loud.”

“Maxx, please-” He wishes he could have shut himself up when the purple stare met him.

“Alright, that’s it.” He threw the spiders down and whirled his machete, swinging and chopping at Zach’s leg. It connected, boring a deep gash into his shin. Zach fell down his head slamming hard into the concrete. “I told you,” He called over his screaming, “Call me Maxx one more time, and I speed this shit up. That’s what I said, isn’t it?” He tossed the machete down, away from his grip, and turned to the table. “How quickly do you wanna die, huh? Fifteen minutes sound good?”

Zach didn't answer, he was too occupied with venting his pain through agonized screams.

“Hey, answer me.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you!?” Zach bellowed, managing to get to his hands and knees, keeping his weight off his injured leg. He crawled forward, reaching for the machete, but Maxx just stepped on his hand. 

“I’ll take it you want it quick, then.” With that, he took two containers and shook them vigorously, certainly agitating the twenty venomous wrigglers inside. 

“No, please-”

“Sorry bud, you should have answered me.” He popped the cap off both containers, dumping the spiders onto his body.

He reveled in his work for a long time, enjoying each plea and scream until it died down and he spiders had a quiet feast. He leaned himself to the upright table that Zach was strapped to, then cuffed his own wrist in the metal restraint. 

When the monster left his body for the time being, Maxx couldn’t properly mourn. He tugged and tugged at the restraint, but the key wasn’t in reach. He just slumped against the table and sobbed into the steel. It was all he could do without the monster to guide him.


End file.
